When I first opened this right after receiving I could definitely say there’s a difference.
I didnt keep track, one was more rough, one was sweeter…
Now, about a month later, even tho i didnt open it in between its harder to tell the difference…
The Yutaka midori is sweeter, with a mild type sencha tannin on the tongue
Used 6g in 4oz @160F x ~20 sec
yup

2nd steep @190F ~20sec

Fuka was rougher, with a harsh kind of on the tongue. Liquor yellowish

Yutaka kept the sweet tannin going. And stayed green. Glad i got more of this 🙂

Dry leaf: green sencha, not all broken (as fuka is said to be, during manufacture), see pics, some leaf is quite long. (i’ve been drinking slowly out of this for at least a month) /Opening the bag in the first weeks i got a strong fresh delicious sencha, was like wow! (thats what you get ordering straight from Japan, and good vendors = yum.)

…. …. … ……………. 2g 4oz…. …. … ……infusing…

#1 2min….. …. … …… #2 2min more…. …. … ……2g wet leaf

#1 70C 2min

Flavor: good flavor, quite strong tho not in your face, good body, medium vegetal, some “spinach” (what i used to call “egg”. yah, i know, but hey, eh, oh well, getting there.), good aftertaste with tannin coating mouth, not harsh, some sweetness already!

#2 reinfusion ~60C 2min

Flavor: hmmm, some watery, low flavor, possibly extracted most in #1, tannins in mouth are more aparent, tho not bitter or harsh.

4g 4oz

4g in improvised scoop

#1 70C 1 min

Flavor: oh yum strong ass fuka! sencha sencha high (well also from the heat of the liquor makes me a little happy/agitated). sweet on the tongue, vegetal… gentle strongness… after coming down from the high, maybe the flavor strength is still medium. good lasting sweet aftertaste.

#2 60c 3 min

Flavor: now there’s some overinfusion here, tinge of strong tannin a bit harsh, not bitter.

Method: 4oz water @ 72C + 4g leaf x ~1min (also been drinking it at work with many variations of leaf, time, water temp). Usually do 3 infusions from it.

Flavor: well, first you get the fuka liquor which is that green opaque full of stuff liquid. then you enjoy a nice taste of grassness like in sencha but more “dense” and thicker with that green tannin on the tongue. there is i’d say low astringency. in the back of throat sometimes i feel a tiny something towards bitter but that could be overinfusion. sometimes depending on strength i also get some fleeting sweet aftertaste feeling. To me any hint of yellow in the color suggests overinfused or something wrong with the leaf.

Overall: good fuka sencha. It has done well in many conditions, resists ok to overinfusion. not my first one so cant say i’m overwhelmed or excited after drinking it, but i can say i’ve been missing it if i dont have any … tho that could be the tea addiction…

#1- 1 min: good flavor, still “medium” strength, but i like this infusion.#2- 2 min: some astringency is present but its sort of a mild green tannin + a sweetness?/”roundness” to it = its not harsh, not unpleasant!

some aftertaste, not bad.

liquor is cloudy – i thought only fukamushis are like that, tho this wasnt as cloudy as the fuka i had.

wet leaf tastes neutral, not bad. looks like some leaf stems are included.

Overall: its a pleasant tea, easy to drink, sort of a “everyday” feel to it, mild-medium flavor, low astringency.

There is a difference ! uh, while i forgot which is which, the one on the left might be the fuka supreme.

Method(s): last used which is not the one depicted above: 5.5g + 4oz @ 155F x 1 min. I do bottle brew these and at one point one of them became less pleasant but i forgot which so what i just said is quite irrelevant…

Flavor: YM: nice clean taste, more refined than the fuka supreme, greenish yet not hard grassy, good fukamushi with more of a matcha flavor to it, even this first infusion has a sweetish aftertaste to it. The fuka supreme is more hard and a bit of a harsher tannin.

Leaf: Japanese green tea, with a yellow tint to it. Chiran is dark green. (cant compare leaf pics well as its different days one with more direct sun)

4g. then Middle pic is Makino Left, Chiran Right

Liquor: Chiran is green, Makino has a hint of yellow.

Flavor: there’s the main green sencha-fuka thick greenness, but compared to Chiran Kanayamidori fuka this Makino has more bitter “tannins”? (yes the bitter kind, not just regular concentrated stuff), and is less flavorful. Chiran more pleasant – more enjoyable “flavor tannins”, and is “sweet” compared to Makino.
(another take into consideration: makinohara’s water was a couple degrees cooler). So even if lowering water temps or shortening infusion i dont think i’ll like the Makino as there isn’t much flavor to it. (yup, tried ~50C the bitter stuff still in there).

Overall: not bad, but the bitter is not good 4 me. it’ll probably be just fine at work where i just drink whatever and dont notice, but at home with no distractions this wont do.

i went to the Itoen store about 2 weeks ago, this how it went down:
me to the white man behind the counter: YO ! i wan somma youz fukamushis.
he: fu…ck..a..mooshy? *confused look*
me: yea, sencha fukamooshy, you kno, like deep steamed or somfin’
main lady gives him a stabbing look: chiran and makinohara
he still confused turns to fridge behind. fumbles and grabs the item, opens it and allows me to stick my schnoz and take a whiff, grab a pinch and make a sale.
well i guess he learned what a fuka is…

Leaf: might be japanese green tea … IT IS !!!

pics not whitebalanced or corrected so colors are a bit whack (esp last one)

Method: 4oz water @ 70C + 4g leaf x ~1min. Usually do 3 infusions in day to day drinking.

Flavor: drank this one right after Dens fuka maki (well ive been drinking from all the senchas for a couple weeks now). More “body” to the liquor. More green flavor, with some variation in flavor/sensation. Much more tannin coating the mouth; more enjoyable, it has, like, a personality. (to take into consideration that I also added like .5 oz water to the result because the leaf sucked up more water than Dens.) Astringency low. More aftertaste./* Seinfeld
Attendant: More anything ?Jerry: More everything !*/

looking for more PGtips my left eye rested upon this shiny “new” item. Actually the eye was on their shiny green “Irish Breakfast” package, but i chose this ’cause it said “prized leaves from the Phulbari and Borengajuli tea gardens in Assam, India” -yes they had Assam text bolded on the boxxx…but it cost +1$ extra for their fairtraded prized leaf.

Flavor: similar pattern of flavors like Yorkshire Gold .Taylors of Harrogate maybe somewhat more mild. Some assam maltiness + minor ceylonish, astringency and some kinda fruity? aftertaste or something in the throat. .. asking for milk and sugar.

Overall: its english or irish (no insult intended from me being confused). needs milk. nothing special.

not feeling it for this type of tea right now… am matchafrothing at the mouth :O for the itoen fukamushis i got 1 week ago

dry leaf: low smell. leaf seems smaller cut than Kawane. picture is of the entire 1oz, it looks small but leaf has small volume and so occupies less space in threeDee thus not disturbing the time space continuum… right? right.

this one is a fukamushi cha: its deep-steamed (longer), loose leaf is finer, infusion is cloudy.

taste:
interesting, green vegetal different than kawane, i like this one, has a little flavor similar to “egg” flavor (as in this oolong huang jin gui), cant say any astringency? …
2nd infusion has a sweet aftertaste.
3rd infusion watery.

overall: i like this one. seems similar experience to the Sencha from Zhong Guo Cha, but don’t remember that having sweet aftertaste.

I love tea. These are my “tasting notes”, organized by type. Some have pictures (usually of tea… :D). “tea“ = alternative/original/westernized name VAR = varieties of that tea(tea) = additional varieties ^ = link to infoThank you for visiting, enjoy…

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